Aiibert steikmattn



Spt. 6, 1932. A. STEINMANN ZER O RESETTING IECHANISI FOR ADDING MACHINESFiled Oct. 29, 1930 I m I EM 6 FIGA Patented Sept. 6, 1932 rummmm PATENTem m." or LA cn ox'mE-ronns. swnzmmap mums mwnxnism-ron' ADDING iMpKoatium-Med-ct6ber29; isaoasermno. mama-end'uswmensnaa m a; i

The present invention relates to an adding machine ofthetype having atotalizing mechanisnnthe counting or number discs of which are,simultaneously-returned to their zero pol si-tionbymeans-offa slidemoved rectilinearly by hand, in opposition to the action of a spring andwhich manually operable-resettingmeans carries out its action. throughthe intermediary of -heart-shaped cam discs.

M Imthe 1186' of-k-nown zero resetting devices of such type, it mayquite frequently occur,

dependent upon; the instantaneous position of-"theindividual number ofdiets, that the or thelike ofi themanually operable relfi settingtmeansengaging. the. corresponding heart shaped cam disc does: not engage thesame under themost favorable conditions. In the instant that a; numberof such discs a'resimultaneousl in' a' position ivingrise 201:0suohunfavora Ieconditions orth'e engagement of the tooth actingv on theheartshapedcanna large amount of power will benecessary to. actuate thezero setting device. The invention is; intended to eliminate thisdrawback} and to provide an apparatus which, although of compactconstruction, en sures theproperengagement of theteeth actin'g'onthejheart-shaped cam in all possible positions of the counting discs, sothat the 39 zero resetting almost invariably requires substantially thesame minimumexpenditure of power. According to the present inventionthis object'is obtained by the provision of a slide havingtwo rowsofteeth lying in different parallel planes, and which successivelyengageowith twoycam discs mounted adjacent each other on the axis ofeach number cliseandwhich areangularly staggered or relatively displacedwith respect to each other. The order of the camson the successivenumber: discqaxis is reversed; sothat where in one instance the largecam is placed infront of the smaller cam-and in, the next adjacentinstance the smaller cam isplaced in front ofthelargorcam An object ofmy invention is to produce a new form of 'zerore-setting mechanism'foran addingmachine -Another object is to produce a zerov re-settingmechanism forvan. adding machinecom 5o prising a novel form :ofrack.

Another object is to producein a zero re setting mechanism for an addingmachine, a novel cam arrangement for the spindles of the numberdiscs.v 1

Another object is to. produce a zero re; setting mechanism for'anadding.machine comprising a novel form of rack in combina: tion with a novelarrangement ofcams on the spindles of the number discs;

Still another object isto produce; in a 'zero re-setting mechanism foran addingmachine;

having. a rack,i a novel means for guiding the rack in its rectilinear:movement;

Yetianother objectis to'produce, in-aJzero as re-setting mechanism"for." an addingmachine, and having a rack, a novel means formov: ingand returning-the rack.

Other objects and advantages will. more fully appear hereinafter;

One form ofmy invention isiillnstrated by way of example in. theaccompanying draw ing. wherein the invention isdepicted as on ployed incombination with a small portable I adding machine: of the type havingsliders. 7 It is to be clearly understood,"however, that the zerore-setting mechanism is not limited to machines of the said type;

Inthe "drawing, Fig. l is afront elevation of 'themachine, the'frontcover of'lthe case so being partially broken away for illustratingaportion ofthe interior mechanism;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view through the axis of a numeral disc or wheel;and illustrates the lower part ofthemachine on a larger scale thanthatof Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a front viewof a portionofthe zero re-setting mechanism forthejtotalizi'ng mechanism; while i 00 Fig. 4 is a partial cross sectionthrough the axes of the numeral discs or wheels.

In the preferred form the machine comprises a case formed by arectangular frame 15, a back cover 16 and a front cover 17, these coversbeing fixed to the rectangular frame by means such as screws. The frameproper which supports the entire mechanism is fitted in the case and ispreferably formed by a plate 18 together with cross members 19, 20, 21,and 22 assembled by suitable means such as pillars and screws.

In the present instance, the adding mechanism comprises sliders arrangedbehind the sight openings 23 and 24 formed in the front cover 17. Thesliders are movable in a rectilinear movement relative to the elongatedsight openings 23 and are adapted for downward operation by means of aspindle such as a pin or peg engaging in any of the holes one to ninearranged on the respective spindles, the pin or peg being inserted inthe said holes through sight openings 23. The spindles are adapted toform the numbers to be added in the conventional manner and representfrom right to left in Fig. 1 the single units, tens, hundreds, etc.

The number which is set up by means of actuation of the sliders by pegsor the like is visible in the sight openings 24 and is transferred tothe totalizing mechanism in suit able manner as for instance by rackgear not shown.

The totalizing mechanism comprises rotary numeral discs or wheels 25,each keyed to an axis or spindle 26 and disposed in the rear of thecorresponding sight openings 27 formed in the cover 17 Each disc orwheel is controlled in suitable manner by the corresponding spindle, asfor instance, through the medium of the mechanism comprising a countingwheel 28 keyed to the axis or spindle 26, so that the total of theoperation is indicated by the numerals visible through the sightopenings 27. The transfer of the units of a number from one disc orwheel to the other is effected in any desired manner as by means of afinger 29 keyed to the axis or spindle 26 and acting on a counting wheel30 keyed to the next adjacent axis or spindle through the medium ofmeans such as a gear 31.

The exact construction of a totalizing mechanism does not form anessential feature of the present invention, so that the disclosurethereof is in no greater detail than is absolutely essential.

On each axis or spindle 26 is preferably keyed a star wheel 32 in theteeth of which engages means such as a pick 33 for ensuring themaintenance in desired position of the axis or spindle 26 of thecorresponding numeral disc or wheel 25.

The totalizing mechanism is combined with means for re-setting' the sameto zero,

whereby all of the numeral discs or wheels 25 may be simultaneouslyreturned to their original or zero position, prior to being actuated bythe mechanism. The resetting means in the preferred instance comprisestwo cams 34 and 35 for each axis or spindle 26, the cams of theparticular spindle being arranged on the axis thereof at an angle ofapproximately 90 relative to each other. These two cams, one of whichpreferably is smaller than the other, are disposed in two parallelplanes, but the order of arrangement of the cams on their particularspindle is reversed from spindle to spindle, so that while the small cam34 of the odd axes or spindles is disposed in one plane, the small camsof the even spindles are disposed in the other plane. The same appliesfor the large cams 35, the order of their arrangement of course beingreversed with respect to that of the small cams.

The two cams 34 and 35 are adapted to be actuated for the purpose ofre-setting the numeral discs to zero by means such as a rack 38 mountedin any suitable manner against the inner face of the cross member 22, asby means of screws 39 each extending through a groove 40 formed in therack. This rack is adapted for rectilinear movement relative to thescrew 39, and in the preferred instance is controlled for this purposeby means of a button 41 suitable for manual operation or the like. Abiasing spring 42 is preferably employed, and through its connectionwith the rack continuously tends to turn the latter to its originalposition as shown in the drawing. The rack has a plurality of teeth 42and 43 shown as having the form of a slightly truncated triangle. Theteeth are preferably arranged in two parallel rows, the planes of whichcoincide with the planes of rotation of the cams 34 and 35. Dependentupon the angular position of the numeral disc or wheel the return tozero of the latter is caused either by the action of a single tooth ofthe rack or by the cooperation of two teeth, one in the first row andthe other in the second row of the rack, the two teeth of course beingadjacent to each other.

When the numeral disc or wheel 25 occupies its original position, asshown in the instance of the third disc on the left in Fig. 3, the twocams 34 and 35 occupy the positions shown therein. At such times, whenthe rack is drawn to the right as indicated by the arrow, the teeth ofthe rack move freely beneath the cams under consideration and do notcontact therewith. If however, the cams occupythe positionscorresponding to the spindle position shown in connection with thesecond numeral disc from the left in Fig. 3, the tooth 43 still movesfreely beneath the small cam 34 without contacting therewith. The largecam, however, remains in the path of the tooth 42 of the rack, and uponmovement of the rack,

i of the said rack the tooth returns the large cam, together with itsspindle, to its original or zero position. Finally, when the position ofthe cams corresponds to the spindle position shown in the right handinstance in Fig. 3, the movement of re-setting the disc to zero isaccomplished in two separate steps, by imparting through'the teeth 42and 43, two successive angular movements of the axis or spin-- dle. Tothis end, the tooth 42 'first acts on the small cam 34 to shift thespindle through a certain angular distance,limited by disengagement ofthe tooth and the cam. Since the rack 38 continues its movement towardsthe right the tooth 43 now contacts with the large cam 35, which hadinitially been out of the path of the tooth and by means of the smallcam 34 has now been brought into the path of the tooth 43. Then, therack 38 being moved still further towards the right, the tooth 43 impelsthe cam 35 through an angular distance sufficient to return the disc tozero.

The result of this device as set forth is that the numeral discs orwheels invariably rotate in the same direction, as indicated by thearrow in Fig. 3, during such times as they are being re-set to zero.

It is obvious that the device for re-setting to zero is of very simpleand sturdy construction and has a very small compass; that it can bereadily mounted and is quite reliable in operation. It is furtherobvious that it is applicable to numerous other types of adding machinesthan the type described herein by way of example.

The invention claimed is susceptible to numerous modifications andadaptations without departing from the spirit thereof, and it isintended that it be limited only by the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An adding machine comprising a totalizing mechanism having rotarynumeral discs or wheels, and means for simultaneously re-setting thenumeral discs to zero, the said means comprising a linearly movable rackhaving teeth arranged in two parallel rows, the teeth of one row beingstaggered relative to those of the other row, a biasing spring'tendingto re-set the rack after movement thereof, cams arranged one in advanceof the other on each spindle of the numbered discs, so that cooperatingteeth are adapted to cooperatewith the cams of the corresponding spindle'for impartingto the spindle one or more successive angular impulses forre-setting the discs to zero, the number of impulses being determined bythe angular position of the disc being re-set, the cams of each of thediscs being reversed on their spindle with respect to the arrangement ofthe cams of the adjacent spindles.

2. In an adding machine having a, totalizing mechanism with a pluralityof numer discs, a zero resetting device for simultaneously returning thesaid number discs to their zero position, comprising two angularlydisplaced cam discs mounted one in the rear of each other on the axis ofeach number disc, a slide having two rows of teeth lying in differentparallel planes, the said rows of teeth engaging successively thecorresponding cam discs on the axis of each number disc, thelongitudinal position of the cam discs alon the axis of the number discsbeing reversed between any two adjacent number discs.

In testimony whereof I have name to this specification.

ALBERT STEINMANN.

signed my

